I'm just going to reply to everything I can in one comment, so I apologize if this seems a little scatterbrained.

This would've been a good idea two years ago, when we averaged 500-1000 entries on any contest, but now, we're down to 100-300 maximum. So, it's not hard at all to make the finalists. Take the project contest for example. Twenty-two entries did not make the finalists. Those are some really good odds if you have any sort of a fanbase at all.

Members with a high amount of (active) subscribers can get easily more diamonds etc in contrary to members with a low amount (or inactive) subscribers.
That's the way it should be. If you have a lot of active subscribers, you're already probably good enough to make the finalists for whatever you make.

Moderators, people tend to diamond more easily submissions of moderators or people with 'power' to get into a better light by that person in question.
This is true in some cases, but not all. I've actually gotten less diamonds since I became a mod.

Pop-reel, when an entry gets onto the pop-reel it's getting more attention and often resulting in more diamonds (the self-fulfilling prophecy), Resulting in a lesser need of diamond judges.
Judge diamonds are worth several times what regular member diamonds are worth. They aren't dependent on member diamonds to be worth something, because the two aren't even comparable.

There is truth in that, but what about a skinner that enters a project contest without a proper quality build. Quite some chance that the subscribers base will help her/him out to get into the finals.
I've posted builds before, and they sucked, and I was given no leeway from anyone.

Randomize the 'current entries' page.
I never use the current entries page, but it could work.

Un-color the moderators on the 'current entries' page and in the submissions section itself. I do not mean to un-color it on the project page itself. (it was added for a reason after all)
This is another idea that could possibly work. The only problem is is that this would be the only part of the site with uncolored names, and could lead to some confusion.

Force contest entries into a draft state and release them all at once at the end of entry period. This will remove the 'time of upload' issues. However it will greatly effect other submissions uploaded on that time
I'll run over the 'time of upload' issues quick, to tell you why I'm against this one.

Uploading the first promising entry in the first few days often gets 'tons' of diamonds, making it into the finals
I always upload as fast as I can, and start getting diamonds while I tweak the parts that I might have missed. It's not unfair that some people can skin or build or write faster than someone else, it's just a skill that builds up over time.

Time of the day, which day in the week. Not everyone can upload on the busiest moment of the site due to time-zones or other
I never post in the busiest time of the day. I just collect diamonds and such over time. Making it into the finals takes more than just a shot of popularity because you posted at the right time.

Last moment entry uploading results in showing up first page on the 'current entries' page. This results in higher view chance while others are left behind in other pages.
The first project contest I entered, I was the last entry. It got super popular (with a lot of hate because I made the finalists because of it). And guess what, I got last place (I've gotten last place in more official contests than anyone else in measurable PMC history).

Quality entries in the beginning period can discourage other entrants to a. forfeit, b. rush things up or c. try even harder.
This really isn't anyone's fault but their own. When you know you aren't going to win, and are just curious how your entry stacks up, that's when you have the most fun.

So, at the end of the day, there really isn't a problem with time issues. Everyone has the chance to do well in a contest, and that doesn't revolve around timezones or when you post.

No pop-reel for the contest entries, rather an advertise reel → (Amount of review time)/(amount of entries) = amount of advertise time every entry gets. Of course randomized throughout the review period. Even better if their individual time is split up since not all times are great to be featured on the advertise reel.
I think this is a great idea. I have no idea how practical it would be to implement, but it'd be cool.

Remove the 'made by (insert member)' the entries & don't let it show up on the 'My subscription activity' page until the reviewing period is over.
I don't really see how this would help. It'd be almost impossible to implement the first option, and the second would hurt lesser known skinners more than it would even the playing field.

@boveybrawlers:
And when finalists are chosen, these are completely random too
Do you mean the list is randomized, or the finalists are chosen at random? I'm okay with a randomized list, but I am very much against randomized finalists. The system isn't really rigged in the first place, and doing this throws skill to the wind. The idea of our current system was inspired by community participation, and it's the only part of contests that the community has any influence in. I think it should stay that way.

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Great job on the ticket, I wish more people put this much effort into writing feature requests.

I too use the current entries every couple of days when there's an active contest, to keep up with new entrants. So I think when the contest is open it should stay ordered.

I had the idea of randomising contest entries as well and asked a few people on PMC chat, results were obvious - it would be fair to all entrants if, when the contest closes, the list is randomised. And when finalists are chosen, these are completely random too (maybe shuffled up again for good measure :D)

There was also talk about the fact that the kind of people who would want this feature are probably just lacking building or organisation skills but for me personally it's just fighting for fairness to all entrants (and me and my build team have come in the top 5 before! yay!).

I like the idea of getting rid of the profile information, so you don't know who has built it, just for the mystery and making the big reveal an even bigger reveal! But it's quite extreme, same goes for all the other points.

Certainly all worth looking into. This has already been dicussed with the site team before and I believe option 5 was considered (but maybe only for the judging phase, can't remember).

The truth is that it's close to impossible to make it completely 100% fair. Some things you suggested would require a large overhaul on the contest system, which takes a lot of time and effort. So we need to make sure that it's actually worth it.

1. Possible
2. Won't help even though I don't think it even occurs, most people don't find submissions through that page.
3. Not a fan of this, mostly because I don't think it's a problem. People who upload earlier have indeed more time to gather diamonds, but that's just the advantage of uploading early. It has the disadvantage of you not having put much time and thought into the skin, which makes it most likely a inferior skin.
4. If you have enough diamonds to reach the popreel with a skin, you most likely will already have or will get (without help of the popreel) enough diamonds to reach the finalists. In the finalists stage, diamonds have no meaning.
5. I can see why it seems like a popularity contest, but people with a huge following are very very likely to have quality contest submission which deserve a spot in the finalists anyway. So would it really matter? Probably not IMO.

From what I've read, you seem to value diamonds way too much. There's room for 100 entries in the finalists stage, and you really don't an insane amount of diamonds to get into it. If you have a decent looking skin and advertise it every so often in our chat, you will very very likely make it into the finalists (whether you are level 1 or level 79 / a member or a moderator).